Garment hanger construction



Feb. 28, 19 67 J. H. BATTS 3,306,506

GARMENT HANGER CONSTRUCTION Filed March 12, 1965 INVENTOR. ddH/V 5%775 ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofiice 3,306,506 Patented Feb. 28, 1967 3,306,506 GARMENT HANGER CONSTRUCTION John H. Batts, Grand Rapids, Mich., assignor to John Thomas Batts, Inc., Zeeland, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Mar. 12, 1965, Ser. No. 439,320 '1 Claim. (Cl. 223-88) This invention relates to garment hangers. More particularly, this invention relates to a molded plastic garment hanger of vastly improved construction.

Many types of garment hangers of a wide variety of constructions are presently in existence. Molded plastic hangers are becoming increasingly important in the coat hanger art. Hangers fabricated of molded plastic are extremely pleasing in appearance, durable and cheaper in cost when compared with conventional wooden hangers. Naturally, the cost of molded plastic hangers is directly proportional to the amount of plastic material utilized in each hanger. Consequently, the amount of plastic used in the hanger must be reduced to a minimum, yet providing a hanger of acceptable strength and durability. Further, plastic coat hangers are much lighter in weight than conventional wooden hangers. This means an important cost savings when clothes are shipped by manufacturers, retailers and the like. It has been found that colored hangers upgrade the appearance of the clothes hanging thereon and of the store itself. Color may be provided in plastic hangers much more simply than with wooden hangers. Further, plastic hangers do not tend to break when dropped.

It is therefore the object of this invention to provide an improved garment hanger especially adapted to be molded practically from plastic, thus gaining the advantages of initial fabrication cost savings, cost savings in shipments, ease of provision of color, and the many other advantages gained from a plastic coat hanger competitively manufactured.

A further object of this invention is the provision of such a garment hanger having an improved shoulder supporting design.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts upon reading the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of an embodiment of the garment hanger of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view thereof;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view of a terminal portion of one of the legs of the hanger;

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the terminal portion shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of portions of the header and one leg of the hanger.

Briefly, this invention relates to a molded plastic garment hanger comprising an enlarged header portion, a support element associated with the header portion, a pair of diverging legs extending downwardly and outwardly from the sides of the header portion and each of said legs extending forwardly from and out of the plane of the header portion. The terminal portions of each of the legs extend downwardly from the ends thereof for reception of a rigid rod. Another aspect of the invention relates to the terminal portions themselves being shaped such that the faces thereof lying toward the header portion are undercut generally adjacent the inner edges thereof.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the reference numeral 1 designates an embodiment of the hanger of this invention. The hanger 1 includes a header portion 2, a pair of legs 10, terminal portions 20 at the ends of each leg 10 and a rigid rod 40.

The hanger 1 is of a design enabling it to be molded from plastic with a two-piece mold apparatus. The header portion 2 is hollow and open at its bottom (FIG. 6). It includes webs 3 extending between the sides thereof and lying in the hollow interior, the center web 4 being hollowed for reception of a support element 5. The header portion 2 is enlarged in a vertical direction, the legs 10 extending from the sides thereof in a downwardly and outwardly direction therefrom. It will be noted from FIGS. 1 and 2 that the legs 10 extend forwardly and out of the plane of the header portion 2. As is wellknown, this shape ideally supports suit coats and the like. The legs 10 have hollow interiors and are of a small cross-section (FIG. 6). Webs 11 extend between the side walls of the legs, lying within the hollow interiors for additional strength. An elongated rib 12 runs along the top of each leg 10 within the hollow interior thereof for further strength.

Terminal portions 20 (FIGS. 3-6) extend downwardly from the ends of the legs 10. The terminal portions 20 are enlarged and it will be seen that they lie in a plane generally parallel to the plane of the header portion 2, having vertical axes parallel to any vertical axis of the plane of the header portion. An opening 21 is formed at the inner end of each terminal portion 20, a cavity 22 also formed therein. As best shown in FIG. 6,,the face 23 lying toward the header portion 2 is undercut at 24 generally adjacent the inner edge thereof. The purpose of this structure will be more fully explained hereinafter.

The rigid rod 40 extends between the terminal portions 20 (FIGS. 1-3). Wirelike end members 41 extend upwardly from the ends of the rigid rod, frictionally fitting into the openings 21 in the terminal portions 20.

It will be now be seen that this invention has provided a garment hanger which is especially adapted to be molded from plastic with a two-piece mold, the ideal shape being provided for supporting coats and the like. This has been accomplished due to the unique cooperation and positioning of the header portion, the legs and the terminal portions one with respect to the other. The entire garment hanger, except for the trouser supporting rod 40, is molded in one operation. The cost of this hanger construction is less than that of conventional wooden hangers now used in similar situations. Additionally, such a structure is approximately one-half as heavy, greatly decreasing shipping costs. Through well-known methods, neutral moulding powders may be colored easily, thus making colored hangers available at very little additional cost. In order to provide colored wooden hangers of this type, very careful sanding and finishing is necessary making the end product very expensive. All of the advantages of plastic are gained, the hanger described tending not to break as wooden hangers when subjected to abnormal shocks, such as dropping. The rigid rod 40 is inserted into the hanger 1 very easily, the wirelike, end members 41 being heated and inserted into the openings 21, the plastic and the hot members reacting one with the other to cause a rigid mating of the structures. The hanger exhibits exceptional strength in spite of its light weight and minimum use of materials due to the cooperation of the parts one with the other together with the webs 11 and the ribs 12. The cavities 22 lessen the amount of material required and lighten the total weight of the structure, although its strength is not impaired.

When a garment is placed on hangers of this general configuration their weight through gravity causes the hanger to tip forward at approximately fifteen degrees and conventional hangers thereby throw out the back shoulder areas of the garment. The constant vibrations caused during shipping and the length of time a. garment may be on the hanger cause damage and misshaping of the garment at these contact points. With the undercut 24 in the face 23 of the terminal portions as described, tipping forward of the hanger does not cause such damage to the garment thereon. Even though the terminal portions 20 extend downwardly from the legs 10, a smooth transitional surface is provided because of the undercut. Thus, the back shoulder areas are not damaged as happens with conventional hangers.

It will be seen that this invention has provided an improved plastic coat hanger of the type best supporting garments such as suit coats. While only one embodiment of this invention has been shown and described, it may be possible to practice the invention through the utilization of certain other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Such other embodiments are to be included as part of this invention unless the following claim specifically states otherwise.

I claim:

A molded plastic garment hanger having an enlarged header portion; a support element associated with said header portion; a pair of diverging thin legs extending downwardly and outwardly from the sides of said header portion; each of said legs extending forwardly from and out of the general plane of said header portion and having an upper surface of smoothly curved cross section; a trouser rod supporting terminal portion at the end of each of said legs extending downwardly therefrom and having spaced front and rear faces, the improvement in said hanger comprising: each of said rear faces of said terminal portions being inclined forwardly in an inward direction from a vertical plane tangent to and following the curvature of the bottom edge of the rear face of its supporting leg such that said rear faces of said terminal portions become progressively more undercut with respect to said rear edge of said leg from which they extend as they recede inwardly from the extremities of said legs and said rear faces of said terminal portions being ofiset with respect to vertical planes tangent to the curved rearward edges of the associated leg section as to not intersect said vertical planes When the hanger is loaded and tipped rearwardly to a stable position in response to the center of gravity of the hanger and load, thereby eliminating rearward protrusion of said rear face into a garment draped over the legs of said hanger.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 980,908 1/1911 Batts 22392 1,370,713 3/ 1921 Strand 22389 1,911,703 5/1933 Marble 223--88 2,240,885 5/1941 Crocker 22392 2,413,914 1/1947 Fortner 22392 2,866,583 12/1958 Batts 22388 FOREIGN PATENTS 870,742 3 1953 Germany.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

G. H. KRIZMANICH, Examiner. 

